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New Age Herbals pp 115–133Cite as

Ophiocordyceps sinensis: The Medicinal Caterpillar Mushroom

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Abstract

Ophiocordyceps sinensis, previously known as Cordyceps sinensis, popularly called as caterpillar mushroom is a non-toxic, medicinal fungus found growing in the Himalayan hills in India, Nepal, China and Tibet. In higher hills of Uttarakhand (India), this fungus is locally known as yarsha gamboo or kira ghas, since it parasitizes on the lepidopteran insect larvae of the caterpillar Thitarodes (Hepialus) armoricanus Oberthur of family Hepialidae under the soil (Huang 1999). The grasslands are habitat for Thitarodes armoricanus and hence for Ophiocordyceps sinensis because the former is the host insect for the latter in alpine meadows just above the tree line. Its local name in Uttarakhand is yarsha gamboo which is derived from yartsa gunbu, a Tibetan name meaning summer grass winter worm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research, DRDO, Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India

    Ranjit Singh, P. S. Negi & Sanjai K. Dwivedi

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  1. Ranjit Singh
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  2. P. S. Negi
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  3. Sanjai K. Dwivedi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Former Director, Life Sciences DRDO, New Delhi, India

    Brahma Singh

  2. Director, World Noni Research Foundation, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    K.V. Peter

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Singh, R., Negi, P.S., Dwivedi, S.K. (2018). Ophiocordyceps sinensis: The Medicinal Caterpillar Mushroom. In: Singh, B., Peter, K. (eds) New Age Herbals. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8291-7_6

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